1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to feed for commercial poultry raising facilities, along with a process for improving and enhancing the commercial value of poultry raised on the feed. The invention also provides a valuable and economically attractive use of dried citrus peel or pulp byproduct or waste in commercial poultry raising operations. Citrus byproduct is used at relatively low levels as a feed supplement to improve the performance of the feed and add significant economic value while maintaining or enhancing bird health.
2. Description of Related Art
Current commercial-scale poultry raising operations house the poultry in confined spaces. Feed and water is made available to the chicks so they can mature into adult birds which typically are intended as a food source. Generally, these are high volume facilities, and efficiency and cost control are extremely important. While the majority of these operations are for chicken production, other poultry can be included, such as turkey, ducks, geese and less common poultry as well.
Poultry feed for these types of commercial operations is formulated in an effort to maximize feed efficiency by improving properties such as live weight gain, feed conversion, adjusted feed conversion and mortality, while seeking to avoid unnecessary feed costs and negative effects on the health of the live birds and the commercial acceptability of the carcass meat for human consumption.
Citrus byproducts have been used extensively for many years (or have been proposed for use) as feed for cattle and other mammals. These uses incorporate citrus byproduct as a food source blended with typical silage sources. Uses or proposed uses of citrus byproducts as feed components for other animals also is generally known. Prior proposals have been made with respect to poultry feed or diet uses for citrus originating materials. Information of interest in this regard includes the following.
Hutton, “Citrus Pulp in Formulated Diets”, Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition in Australia: 1987, Farrell, ed, Armdale, Australia, discusses including dried citrus pulp in formulated diets for poultry. The suggestion reported in this publication is to utilize 5 percent dried grapefruit pulp. An article referenced in this connection is El Moghazy et al, “Some Neglected Poultry Feed Stuffs from Vegetable and Fruit Wastes,” 1982. This article summarizes feeding trials with dried citrus sludge or dried citrus pulp as a feedstuff component at about 7.5 weight percent.
In their “Studies on Utilization of Citrus Byproducts as Livestock Feeds”, Korean Journal of Animal Science, 26(3), 244–250, 1984 and 27(10), 673–678, 1985, Yang and Chung report information concerning the feeding value of citrus byproducts on broiler chicks and layer hens. Feed blends including between 5 percent and 15 percent by weight of dried citrus pulp and/or peel are noted. These articles suggest an overall conclusion that feeding dried citrus pulp or peel is detrimental to weight gain and feed conversion values. Velloso, “Use of Citrus Pulp in Animal Feeding”, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1985, reports that broilers that have reached twenty one days of age can utilize up to 5 percent citrus pulp in their diet. Table 6 of this article reports feeding at 20 percent, 40 percent and 60 percent as an in affect replacement of milo.
Deyoe et al, “Citrus Biflavonoids in Broiler Diets”, Poultry Science, Volume 41, pages 1088–1090, 1962, reports upon a non-isocholoric addition of as low as 0.5 percent of “citrus bioflavonoids” (from Sunkist Growers, Ontario, Calif.) without specifying or identifying the bioflavonoids. This article acknowledges the bioflavonoid material hesperidin as a bioflavonoid. This article generally reports that mortality was reduced as the level of citrus bioflavonoid inclusion was increased (up to 5 percent), with a poorer feed conversion performance at higher levels.
Tamasaukas et al, “Evaluation of the Efficacy of Salstop and Digestor Broilers (Citrade C.A.), Two Products Derived From Citrus Fruit Seed Extracts, Against Avin Coccidiosis: Floor Pen Studies,” FLAP, Parasitol al Dia 20: 118–124, 1996, reports on testing of citrus fruit seed extracts for use against coccidiosis in broilers. Each seed extract was added to the broiler feed at relatively low levels. The extracted components were used at levels as low as 500 grams/ton of food.
Much of this literature indicates that citrus byproducts such as dried citrus peel or pulp can be used as a feed component at levels of about 5 percent or above, but not too far above the generally satisfactory 5 percent level. Even at these relatively low levels, these reported results are mixed in that feed efficiency and bird health aspects can be inconsistent in generally providing positive results in one area at the expense of seeing negative results in another area. This problem is not clearly solved by incorporating only bioflavonoids or extracts from citrus seeds. Besides the reported mixed results, using bioflavonoids or seed extracts adds having to separate the natural combination of citrus waste into individual bioflavonoids or extracts through separation or isolation techniques.
A particularly desirable solution would be to be able to use an inexpensive natural additive to poultry feed in order to enhance feed performance without detrimentally affecting the birds' health or mortality. Effective materials which are byproducts that do not require isolation or extraction to be suitable for use in poultry feed are recognized herein as being of value in this regard when used at levels characteristic of a feed supplement rather than at levels of a component of a feed blend, typically one which is intended to provide food value.